Business As Usual

A staffing crisis resulting from a wave of employees calling in sick to catch the new Stars Wars movie was more of a phantom menace than a blow to worker productivity. Some agency executives were concerned that staffers might take a day off last week to see the film. Atlanta's Headline Group even proclaimed "a cultural holiday" and bought its employees tickets to the May 19 premiere. But few agencies contacted last week said there were many empty desks. "The people you'd . . . call the real geeks, they all seem to be here today," said Steve Colford, director of communications at Howard, Merrell & Partners, Raleigh, N.C. "God knows it never crossed my mind." Buzzword in Lexington, Ky., sent out a press release, stating it expected to be fully staffed during the movie's opening. "I couldn't find a single piece of Star Wars or Star Trek memorabilia [in] our offices," said Buzzword president Jim Gleeson, "The closest I came was a CD of William Shatner singing "Mr. Tambourine Man'-and that's more of a cry for help than anything else." -T.W. Siebert

A staffing crisis resulting from a wave of employees calling in sick to catch the new Stars Wars movie was more of a phantom menace than a blow to worker productivity. Some agency executives were concerned that staffers might take a day off last week to see the film. Atlanta's Headline Group even proclaimed "a cultural holiday" and bought its employees tickets to the May 19 premiere. But few agencies contacted last week said there were many empty desks. "The people you'd . . . call the real geeks, they all seem to be here today," said Steve Colford, director of communications at Howard, Merrell & Partners, Raleigh, N.C. "God knows it never crossed my mind." Buzzword in Lexington, Ky., sent out a press release, stating it expected to be fully staffed during the movie's opening. "I couldn't find a single piece of Star Wars or Star Trek memorabilia [in] our offices," said Buzzword president Jim Gleeson, "The closest I came was a CD of William Shatner singing "Mr. Tambourine Man'-and that's more of a cry for help than anything else." -T.W. Siebert